Skye Bank Manipulated Our Accounts – Firstnation

Our attention has just been drawn to several online and media reports about us and our CEO, Mr. Kayode Odukoya. On behalf of our company and Mr. Odukoya, we hereby VEHEMENTLY deny the allegations of fraud and forgery. In the course of its ordinary business, Firstnation Airways has normal banking and credit relationship with Skye bank.

Timothy Oguntayo, MD/CEO, Skye Bank Plc.

It is common knowledge that the Aviation Industry is Capital intensive. The Bank advanced us credit facilities. It is pertinent to clarify that Mr. Odukoya took NO personal loan from the Bank and his relevance here is solely in his capacity as the CEO of Firstnation.

Firstnation has repaid a total sum of N3.1Billion in full settlement of both interest and principal due on the credit facilities. However the Bank continues to wrongly alleged that the Company was still indebted to it. In this regard, we approached the Bank for discussions, seeking reconciliation and amicable resolution. This was following Forensic Audit of all our accounts with bank.

The report revealed full repayment of all the facilities advanced to the company by the Bank. In addition, it revealed that the Bank applied several excesses, arbitrary charges including and accounts manipulation. The forensic Reports was forwarded to the bank with revised copies, as the account manipulation continued till date.

Given the lack of progress in our discussions with the Bank, as all our efforts at resolution were deliberately being frustrated by the Bank, we had no other reasonable option, other than to institute legal action, as far back as April 2017. We then obtained certain preliminary reliefs from the court that parties should maintain status quo until adjudication.

Despite on-going legal proceedings and in clear violation of the subsisting status quo court order and in order to foist a fait accompli on us, the Bank wrote a frivolous petition to EFCC raising false Fraud allegations not previously alleged.

We promptly responded to EFCC’s invitations. The EFCC then directed that parties should reconcile the disputed figures, but the Bank equally frustrated this reconciliation attempt again. We reported back to EFCC of the lack of progress with reconciliation and the Bank’s posture. Our last visit to EFCC was barely 30 days ago. We have no reasons whatsoever not to attend Court hearings, if this was brought to our attention.